The Great Divide by Cristina Henriquez

Emily Rose
Aug 31
4 min read

Gatún, Panama

The Great Divide is Cristina Henriquez’s second novel (third published book) that centers around a host of characters in Panama 10 1907 during the construction of the Panama Canal. This book was mostly a pleasant read, which is a departure from most books in the Historical Fiction genre. Although there were some characters that were objectively bad (looking at you Miller), Henriquez chose to keep a neutral or uplifting tone throughout the novel. If you are a historical fiction buff who enjoys reading stories that will really punch you in the gut, this is probably not the book for you. But if you are wanting to recommend a relatively lighthearted novel that will teach you *some history surrounding the Panama Canal, this is a good choice.

I knew very little about the Panama Canal prior to reading this book. So here’s some brief information that I learned from the book or researched while reading it. Panama was a part of Colombia from about 1821 until late 1903. Prior to Panama’s independence, The US had been in talks with Colombia about putting a canal through what would become Panama, but ultimately the talks fell through. There were rumblings that Panama wanted its independence, so the US backed that movement because the good old US of A really believes in spreading democracy and independence throughout the world…haha. They knew they could gain control of the canal if they worked with the new country of Panama vs trying to continue negotiating with Colombia. So, when the US backed the independence movement, Colombia allowed the Panamanians to form their own country. The US had control over the construction of the canal and the management of it until 1999.

The Panama Canal was an amazing engineering undertaking. It is just over 50 miles long and cuts through former mountainous terrain. It required an extraordinary amount of manpower, upwards of 100,000 total workers. Most of them were laborers brought from all around the Caribbean, with a particularly large amount coming from Barbados. Officially, there were about 5,600 deaths during construction, but it is suspected that the actual number is much greater. Working conditions were harsh, but most of the deaths were caused by mosquito born illnesses such as Malaria.

This novel tells the events of this time from the perspectives of:

Francisco Aquino - a Panamanian fisherman
Omar Aquino - Francisco’s son and a worker in the canal
Ada Bunting - a 16 year old girl from Barbados who came to Panama looking for work to pay for her sister’s surgery (She had malaria, and this left fluid in her lungs)
Lucille Bunting - a Barbadian seamstress and mother of Ada
Henry Camby - a Barbadian plantation owner and estranged father of Ada
John Oswald - an American scientist in Panama seeking the cure for malaria
Marian Oswald - former botanist, wife of John Oswald, adjusting to life in Panama
Miller - foreman/overseer for construction of the canal
Joaquin - a fishmonger
Valentina - an activist and wife of Joaquin
Molly - a young photographer that works for the paper

There were quite a few points of view, obviously, throughout the book, but Henriquez did a great job of weaving them all together. This book was entertaining and heartwarming, and it gave us a good look at the lives and feelings of the characters in this book. There was a particular section that reminded me of why I love books so much: Francisco spent two weeks worried sick about his son who hadn’t returned from work one evening. Prior to his disappearance, father and son hadn’t spoken for months (because Francisco disagreed with his son’s choice to work in the Canal). When his son finally does return, he is overjoyed and speechless. Then the chapter ends and immediately switches to the son’s POV, where he sees his father look at him with great emotion for just a moment, then looks away and continues the “Reign of Silence”. If we didn’t have all the different points of view showcased in this book, there would be no way to know how deeply the father really cares because he is unable to actually express that out loud or to his son. And often in books with so many different perspectives, the plot can get lost or confusing. That doesn’t happen with this story.

I appreciate that Henriquez created a more lighthearted historical fiction book, but I wish there was more substance surrounding the setting, which is a critical aspect of this book. We know Gatún is a small town that will be destroyed by the canal, but why are folks working so hard to save it? What were the mountains like before construction started? In one of the last pages, one of the characters describes all the different places that he wished he was able to show his crush before she left Panama. Henriquez lists out more than a dozen places. I really wish we (the readers) were able to go there and learn about the beauty, history, and significance of these places, even if they were just special to these particular characters. It would have brought more appreciation for Panama itself, beyond just the canal. And (mild spoilers…) I disliked that the death that had the most amount of attention and time dedicated to it in this book full of POC was a white American woman. That felt a little ick…although I suppose you could argue that Henriquez was commenting on the realities of this time period.

Overall, I enjoyed reading the book. But I wanted more about Panama itself and perhaps for the author’s glasses to be a little less rose-colored.

Bonus, here are a couple of gorgeous photos of the Panama Canal today. Despite it being a man-made project, the visual beauty of the area was preserved in a lot of ways. People continue to visit Panama specifically for the canal even today.